EU mobilises €25 million to defeat radicalisation in prisons

Attending the the Conference on Radicalisation in Prisons Commissioner Vera Jourová in charge of Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality put forward proposals to minimise the risk of terrorist attacks, tackling the “root of the problem” – the radical extremist political ideology, but the same time to distinguish it from Islam as religion.

“Radicalisation can take many forms and nobody has a “monopoly on it”, whether it is Islamist extremists, or Right-wing extremists or others” – Vera Vera Jourovásaid, adding that she does not believe that getting to the bottom of the problem can be done by governments alone. “The response needs to come from all levels, national and local. Teachers, social services, prison staff, local communities can do a lot to prevent spreading the poison of radicalisation” – Jourová continued.

However the EU can help to step in where the EU-wide response can be effective, and mobilise the practitioners, exchange of best practices and ideas and mobilise funds.

The first, and utmost the improving the exchange of information sharing about those Europeans who are coming back from fighting in conflict areas are of particular importance and the reform of the Schengen Information System will help EU government to exchange the information faster and better.

The Internet which is used by dangerous extremists to identify vulnerable men and spread the venom of radicalisation. The Orlando attacker is the case in point, as the evidence suggests he was radicalised over the Internet and was acting alone, Jourová reminded.

To address this problem the Commission will propose further recommendations on what is expected from the Internet companies in terms of removing terrorist content in social media.

Secondly, to tackle radicalisation more widely, the EU can help to mobilise practitioners, create platforms for exchange and mobilise funds. That is why the Commission is supporting the Radicalisation Awareness Network Centre of Excellence, where expertise of local practitioners is connected to each other.

The Commission has mobilised €25 million for the next 4 years to help this Network to fulfil its mission. Overall in the EU budget €314 million are dedicated to anti-radicalisation projects until 2020.